Please join me and special guest Dr. James Adams of USC School of Pharmacy for our annual Fall Medicinal Plant Workshop on Saturday, October 7, 2017, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dr. Adams has been a frequent and popular contributor to my events for the past five years. This workshop is based on his ground-breaking pharmacological studies on local native plants. All his workshops here have filled up so, as the saying goes, he’s “back by popular demand.”

The plant identification session will take place on the pathways at the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy’s Cluff Vista Park and the Ojai Valley Museum’s Chumash Garden, two native plant gardens in downtown Ojai, where Dr. Adams will identify and discuss the medicinal uses of a wide variety of native plants. The afternoon hands-on preparation session will be held at a community kitchen nearby. After the workshop, participants will receive a complete list of all plants that are identified and/or utilized as well as recipes and other info.

Dr. Jim with a wild Buckwheat cake fresh out of the oven at the Fall 2016 workshop

The morning outing from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. will be a slow-paced walk around the two gardens. They are both wheelchair-accessible although there is a hill entering Cluff Vista Park. The morning session will involve stopping for discussion for periods of time. A few benches are scattered about. A lightweight campstool could be useful as well. After a one-hour lunch break, the afternoon kitchen session from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. will focus on preparing seasonal plants for edible and medicinal uses. Dr. Adams will demonstrate how to prepare edible and medicinal products from wild foraged plant material such as yerba santa, California buckwheat seed, oak acorns, black walnuts, and hollyleaf cherry. The list of specific plants will be shared with those who register.

Dr. Adams brings to Ojai a wealth of scientific knowledge and field experience as well as a singular perspective on herbal medicine. As he tells it, “My family came to Virginia in 1635 and has always survived by using American Indian healing. On the frontier, there were no doctors. American Indian healing was better than European medicine anyway. I continue this tradition.”

As an Associate Professor of Pharmacology at the prestigious University of Southern California, Dr. Adams has been teaching pharmacy students, medical students, doctors and other healthcare professionals for over 25 years while researching the natural pharmaceutical compounds in native plants. He has over 200 publications.

Photo: Christopher Nyerges

Running parallel with his academic career, Dr. Adams has worked with the Chumash people since 1998 and studied Chumash healing with Cecilia Garcia for almost 15 years. In addition to their book, they wrote 30 journal articles together. Jim is now the carrier of the healing knowledge passed to him by his teacher. Dr. Adams will have copies of all his several books with him for purchase and signing.“Humans have used plant medicines ever since humans came into existence, about 200,000 years ago,” Dr. Adams explains in Healing with Medicinal Plants. “That means that our ancestors experienced an intense natural selection. Those who responded to plant medicines survived and passed their genes on. We are the products of this natural selection. Our bodies are designed to respond to plant medicines.”

Please note: This workshop will go on RAIN OR SHINE with the exception of a heavy downpour in the morning and/or a 100% chance of heavy rain that day. No dogs or smoking, please.

The cost for the Fall Medicinal Plant Workshop is $75, including all materials for preparing plant medicines. To pre-register, please email register@herbwalks.com.

To secure your space with a payment, please use thePayPal button below. Registrants will be emailed a receipt from PayPal and receive another another email from register@herbwalks.com with all necessary information including directions, what to bring, etc.

4 Responses to “Fall Medicinal Plant Workshop in Ojai with Dr. James Adams”

This event does require prepayment using the PayPal link on this event page. Let me know if you have any questions about that. I can add you to the list in the meantime but your spot will not be saved until you make a payment. Thanks!

Hello, I found your site while browsing for lodging in Ventura for this weekend. I am visiting with family on the same day of this wonderful event. I have always been interested in learning about plants and their beneficial properties. Will there be future nature walks? I would love to attend.

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